earned, usaa auto insurance is often handed down from generation to generation. because it offers a superior level of protection. and because usaa's commitment to serve current and former military members and their families is without equal. begin your legacy. get an auto insurance quote. usaa. we know what it means to serve. good morning. i'm carol costello. thank you for joining me. this morning 10e8 million americans are waking up in the icy grip of a winter storm. high winds and heavy snow creating the swirling mess for drivers in cape cod. we'll get to it in a second. this is the view from cnn the affiliate. we lost the video. trust me it's nasty there. blizzard warnings and a foot of snow will blanket parts of

massachusetts. in philadelphia, double digit temperatures and double digit snowfall as much as a foot of snow has fallen and with a high today of about 14 degrees. it ain't going anywhere. we'll show you around the region beginning with cnn meteorologist paud pa indra petersons who is in boston. >> we're talking about this chill here in boston. talk about a city that's been hit hard over the last several weeks. we were here several weeks ago. today they are talking about heavy amounts of snow. boston saw five inches. south of here they are talk about snow drifts that's a good 18 inches high. new york city getting almost a foot of snow. we're talking record breaking snow. places like philadelphia seeing 13 inches. all of this happened in 24 hours. snow and bitter cold temps impacting millions from the carolinas to new england. >> all of a sudden boom snow

every where. >> a foot of snow piling up along i-95 corridor making it challenging for plows to keep up. at the storm's peak the white stuff falling at a rate of two inches an hour. central new jersey hit the hardest with over 15 inches. >> if you have any option not to go out, stay home. safest thing do tonight is stay home. >> around d.c. icy roads sent this car spinning out of control. the washington monument barely visible by the snowfall as around six inches covered our nation's capital. the heavy snow putting federal offices under a two our delay and causing the president to scale back his schedule. in massachusetts blizzard-like conditions blanketing eastern massachusetts with up to 12 inches of snow. governors in several states declaring states of emergency. this morning school districts in philadelphia, washington, d.c. and boston closing their doors while new york city opting to remain open. some kids using their snow day to turn the step of the philadelphia art museum into a

sledding frenzy. but the dangerously cold temperatures continue to fall fast. >> i got double layers on today. >> much of the east coast 25 degrees below normal through this weekend. >> wind chill factors will be dragging temperatures into the negative teens. these are extremely dangerous conditions. >> in chicago officials are using tugboats to break up the ice covering 60% of the great lakes. and frigid cold isn't going away any time soon. at least five states are forecast to stay below freezing through the end of the month. now i have a little bit of good news. that is that the low is pulling offshore. massachusetts near boston one of the few places seeing light snow. here's the problem. as that low makes its way offshore it will strengthen. this cold air above us is so cold that there's a temperature difference between that and the ocean so places like on the cape just south of us here will have

something called ocean effect snow. take everything you know about lake-effect snow same concept. they will see snow and blizzard conditions here until 1:00 p.m. that's the concern. for everyone else that has snow on the ground it's cold. snow is staying there. these winds will be picking up. now what do you have? you have the snow still blowing around. that's the concern as we go through the next several days and this snow does not melt. another system behind us will reinforce this cold air. everyone has to walk around, get to work, live daily life in these subzero temperatures in the morning and single digits and teens in the afternoon. >> indra petersons trying to stay warm. this is expected for us in new york also, taking a pounding as much as 15 inches of snow fell in the metro area. pamela brown is on long island. good morning. >> reporter: carol, good morning to you. you know the fact that the

snowfall peaked here in new york around the evening commute was really a recipe for disaster. it was truly a nightmare trying to get out of the city last night. we left at 6:00 p.m. trying get here to long island. it normally takes more than an hour. officials say a surge in car travel delayed clean up efforts so that cause ad chain effect, gridlock traffic, angry motorists. new york city is no stranger to snowstorms. two back-to-back storms are unusual. snow and ice making streets slippery causing gridlock at every turn. commutes that normally take 30 minutes taking hours. and back ups for miles as far as the eye can see. officials say an unexpected surge of car travel delayed clean up efforts in and around the city, triggering a chain effect, angering motorists with standstill traffic. so back live here, carol, you

see this light fluffy snow. this is the scene all over long island. the issue this morning is the drifting snow with winds kicking up 25 to 30 miles per hour. drivers are urged to still exercise caution today especially on those back roads that perhaps haven't been plowed yet. carol? >> good advice. new emails this morning threatening attacks at the olympics. germany, italy and hungary olympic officials say they got these threatening emails warning of a terrorist threat and with 15 days to go before the games start it's raising anxiety about security at the games. cnn's phil black joins us from volgograd, russia with more. good morning, phil. >> reporter: good morning, carol. yes there's a list of national olympic committees from countries including germany, italy and so forth who say they have received this letter and are concerned about it. they are taking security seriously.

to pass these emails on to the international olympic committee, to sochi organizers and the response back from the international olympic committee is they do not believe this is a threat or a specific threat. in the words of the ioc they say it appears to be a random e-mail from a member of the public. even if it is what they believe it is some sort of prank it's interesting to note olympic officials in various countries are talking about this publicly today and it is another indication of just how concerned people are about tissue of security at these imminent sochi olympics. >> any word from the russian government about this latest threat? i guess pseudo threat. >> reporter: not this specific threat. no. not these emails. we should point out the international olympic committee does not believe is a threat. russian authorities are not commenting specifically on any specific threat as such. they are maintaining this consistent line which says they

are ready to do this and to protect these games. that said, we know about a couple of terror plots that they belief they have detected including two terror plots involving black widows or suicide bombers. one is expected to target the torch relay. russian authorities are not talking about this. the reason we know about it we spoke to people on the ground in an effort to find the women behind these threats. >> phil black live from russia. terror threats is prompting one olympian to tell his family to stay home. tucker is competing in his final olympics but told his wife and parents to stay at home.

he's worried about family security so they will stay home to allow their son focus on his skagt. we have shocking video of an airplane crash in aspen, colorado. it was captured by infrared surveillance cameras at the airport. you see it there. one person died. two others seriously hurt when the small plane flipped, think it runway and burst into flames after making a second landing attempt. we're following the story from denver. >> reporter: good morning, carol. there's still an ongoing investigation into why this plane crashed. but given that surveillance video we now have a better understanding of what happened and it provides a look into how the tragedy unfolded. chilling new video shows the terrifying moment this private jet crashes into the runway of the aspen, colorado airport

earlier this month, bursting into flames, sending a plume of smoke rising into the car. surveillance cameras captured each moment of the plane's failed landing. the plane approaches the runway then aborts because of difficult conditions. >> missed approach. >> reporter: minutes later in the black and white video the pilot appears to attempt to abort the second landing as well but tragically he's too late. the plane nose dives flipping upside down on impact and skids down the runway. >> these pilots were attempting to land at an high altitude airport. >> reporter: ground workers race to the scene watching in horror as the plane burns in the distance. one kicks a box perhaps in frustration. three people were on board the plane. one injured co-pilot was just released from the hospital last

week. one remains hospitalized. the third man was killed at the scene of this horrific crash. it's still going to be a while before we know the official cause of that plane crash. but a new preliminary ntsb report does confirm that the plane was dealing with those tail winds gusting up to 25 knots. it will be 12 to 18 months before the final report is complete. >> thanks so much. still to come a cnn correspondent and his crew are roughed up in china. >> they are physically man handling me. this is a public space. i'm allowed the report. >> find out what the chinese do not want journalists reporting on next. [ male announcer ] the new new york is open.

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check being our top stories at 14 minutes past the hour, three activists have been killed in violent clashes between anti-government protesters and police in the ukrainian capital of kiev. two people were shot. cause of death for a third person is being investigated. latest viles is in response to

the government's crackdown on largely peaceful protests sparked after the ukrainian president cancelled a planned trade deal with the european union. edward snowden is claims he's a russian spy absurd and false. in an interview with "the new yorker" snowden stressed he acted alone without assistance from anyone including any foreign government. earlier this week congressman mike rogers implied snowden had help from the russian government when he stole all of those american secrets. a grand jury in north carolina has decided not to inindictment a charlotte police officer after he shot and killed an unarmed man last september. you might remember former college football player jonathan farrell was killed after being shot ten times by officer randall kerik. farrell was looking for help after being involved in a car crash. a neighbor called 911 after he knocked on her door. state attorneys are hoping to resub knit case saying the grand jury that ruled tuesday was

missing jurors. chinese authorities are desperate to strict media coverage of a controversial trial. they are not afraid to get physical. watch as they rough up david mckenzie and his crew as they walk near a court building in beijing. >> we're heading towards a court where an activist is on trial. no need to shout at us. the reason he's in trial is because he had a gathering of people several times and with one of the founders of the new citizens movement. that's why all these police surrounding me here. we'll try to look at the entrance of the court which is just -- sorry u-can't stop me. soon the situation violently escalated. police in plain-clothes, men targeting us, taking away our phones and i.d. and breaking the camera. >> you can't physically -- they

are physically man handling us. they are physically man handling me. is this a public space. i'm loud to report. we're reporters. we're reporting in a public space. hey, hey, hey, do not, do not, do not physically manhandle. other international journalists were roughed up during the trial. one policeman told me they were following orders. they moved us from the van into a police car. a government spokesman said they will investigate the incident but that without law and order there will be chaos in china. the police and plain-clothes guys drove to us a street corner several blocks away from the court and dumped us on the side of the street. we would be shooting this with a

camera so they tore off the front view finder. this shows how much china wants to manage the message but in doing so the irony is they betray some of the strong arm tactics they use against journalists in clueding us and often it's far worse for chinese nationals. >> david mcken decide is live in beijing now. david, i just want to ask you when you were in that van did you know where you were going? >> no, we didn't know where we were going. it's quite unusual. one could explain this away as just individuals who were taking the law into their own hands or in this case it's not even the law, they were acting in a way that's not part of the chinese law. but with other journalists targeted today here in china, it indicates that it's somehow an orchestrated event, i have to believe. this crackdown on foreign reporters trying to get the word out on this trial, of this

activist who himself refused to speak through proceedings because he said he wasn't getting justice here in china. >> will reporter go back and try to cover the trial despite what happened? >> well, this is a one day event and there will be other activist from this movement who will be there and in that court in the next few days on trial. so certainly if they can clarify that we're not going to get dumped in a van and detained and dumped elsewhere, yes i'm sure they will continue to cover this including us. the issue here is the irony of this, the activist was calling for transparency, anti-corruption. these are some issues that have been taken up by the chinese leadership themselves. but they obviously don't want activists and groups of people taking it upon themselves in this case to push for change. they want to manage the message and manage that process.

so certainly some people saying that this is particularly amnesty international this is an unfair procedure against someone who is only helping to improve china live up to its own laws. >> cnn david mckenzie. toronto mayor rob ford caught again. drunk on camera. some are saying he needs some serious help. paula newton is following the story from toronto. good morning, paula. >> reporter: good morning, carol. you know complaining about the police, expletives, putting on a jamaican accent, offensive to some. we'll have all the details straight after the break. [ male announcer ] this is the cat that drank the milk... [ meows ] ...and let in the dog that woke the man who drove to the control room [ woman ] driverless mode engaged. find parking space. [ woman ] parking space found. [ male announcer ] ...that secured the data that directed the turbines that powered the farm that made the milk that went to the store that reminded the man to buy the milk

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after vowing to lay off the booze, toronto mayor rob ford has been caught on tape drinking and swearing and imitating a jamaican accent. it's quite sad to watch.

>> trying to tell me, with total civility. he's hiding here. i'm hiding here. [ bleep ] man, man ciao. >> now ford admits he was drinking but there were no drugs involved and he did not drive home. paula newton is the live in ottawa this morning. it seems his supporters are enabling him now. >> reporter: it's sad, carol. many people in his family were worried about whether or not he could drink. carol, just hours before the mayor admitted that he was drunk, that he was with friends, that it was him on the video just on monday night. his brother said look he hasn't had a drink since november, everything seems fine, that video couldn't have been from just the other night.

extraordinary here that the mayor himself seems to be in denial of what is his personal life and what is business, business for the city of toronto that's really affecting the city. more papers this morning talking about him having to quit, having to step down and in about five minutes they are going to have a budget meeting in toronto. he's suppose sthoupd at city hall. you're talking billions of dollars on the line and many wondering if really he should thereabout at the table right now and he shouldn't just take a break and get some help. >> where is that video from? >> last night. >> were you drinking last night? >> yes i was. >> so, you were drinking last night? >> a little bit, yeah. i was with some friends and what i do in my personal life with my information friends. has nothing to do with you guys. >> reporter: you know, he's trying to say that look, this is

my personal life it has nothing to do with city business and of course that isn't true. many people say look it does affect city business and affects the reputation of the city and beyond that he's a man who needs some help with substance abuse. >> paula newton reporting live from ottawa this morning. still to come on the "newsroom" the snow falls and the flights stop. we'll have the latest on traffic snarls in the sky. carol, the bad news is the cancellations and delays will continue today. but, we do have some good news and we have that for you coming up. into traffic? no, just had to stop by the house to grab a few things. you stopped by the house? uh-huh. yea. alright, whenever you get your stuff, run upstairs, get cleaned up for dinner. you leave the house in good shape? yea. yea, of course. ♪ [ sportscaster talking on tv ] last-second field go-- yea, sure ya did. [ male announcer ] introducing at&t digital life. personalized home security and automation. get professionally monitored security

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costello. thank you for joining me. dangerous cold, howling winds and heavy on interstate northern half of the atlantic coast is dig out from as much as 15 inches of snow. treacherous conditions sliding all the way south to the carolinas. >> we're doing 180s down the road earlier. we got behind a scraper that let us go for a little bit but didn't work after that.

>> nothing does after a time, right? the worst northeast season has snarled travel across the northeast and that includes the airlines. more than 14 hunting flights cancelled today and counting. that's on top of the 3,000 cancelled flights yesterday. renee marsh live at reagan national airport this morning. tell us more, renee. >> reporter: well we've been talking a lot about it and it's been a tough month for them. we can tell enthusiast. they are doing better today. we just got an e-mail from jetblue. they say this hour they are resuming their operations in new york. and in the next hour they will be resuming operations in boston. so the big question, i know that you asked me earlier how did jetblue did this time around because they were criticized the last time for just the way they hand told storm. one analyst says that the airlines actually did better this time. take a listen. >> jetblue this time doing

better this time because we learned from our mistake and partly this storm isn't quite as challenging as that one. >> reporter: yeah. not as challenging because you don't have, you know, that holiday traffic that we saw in the beginning of the month there so it just is making it a lot easier for these airlines not just jetblue but everyone to rebook these passengers who aren't able to get their destinations when they thought they were able to, carol. but, the big picture here today is, you know, we are expecting more cancellations. we are expecting more delays. it could be another day or two after this storm actually moves out of here until these airlines are able to catch up to themselves. lots of people waking up this morning and they were sleeping right here. this is where they spent the night. carol >> renee marsh, thanks so much. a stunning fall from grace for virginia's bob mcdonnell. former republican governor and possible 2016 presidential

contender. mcdonnell and his wife have been inindictmented for fraud namely accepting more than $140,000 in gifts. we're talking about loui louis vuitton shows, oscar de la renta dresses, golf barks golf clubs, two iphones and 30 box of this stuff, skin care. anatabloc skin care. the ceo of star scientific the company that makes this stuff paid the governor and his wife to promote his product. a defiant mcdonnell along with his wife and daughter denying all charges. >> i never promised and mr. williams and his company never received any government benefit from me or from my administration and not one penny of taxpayer money went to him or

to star scientific during our administration. not one penny. >> cnn national political reporter peter hamby joins me now. they are accused of accepting more than just pricey gifts. >> they are accused of taking loans, really big loans, rights from, travel paid for by jonny williams, use of his vacation home. what the inindictmentment alleges again is that all of these gift pros vied to the mcdonnell's the governor and his wife in turn used state resources basically to promote this nutritional supplement that this donor, you know, that his business sells. so mrs. mcdonnell traveled to florida at one point from most the drug. there's emails in here from mcdonnell showing he wanted these drugs to be used at uva, jmu, vcu, state research

facilities. so basically that is what's at stake here. the bigger picture here like you mentioned at the very beginning of the segment is how stunning this is and for two reasons. one, bob mcdonnell was a big star, brand nanl the republican party but also so disciplined. this is why this is so shocking. two i can tell you as somebody who grew up in richmond, virginia, this does not happen in the state of virginia. this is the first governor to face corruption charges like this. this just doesn't happen. there are notoriously lacks laws in the state surrounding gifts from donors so that could be one reason why there's not corruption charges in the past. state of virginia today is reeling from this really lengthy indictment. >> what are the penalties. >> could be up to 30 years in prison. you know, hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines. and legal fees.

as you know, federal prosecutors don't open cases like this without thinking that they are going to get a win. so, mcdonnell has "law and order" up with some blue chip attorneys in virginia so that's going a really costly proposition for them which is at the heart of this whole case. if you go through the indictment again and again they had a lot of financial anxieties and one of the reasons they solicited these gifts to pay for a vacation home and just sort of the personal finances that were troubling them. >> pet are hamby, many thanks to you. it's the post-game rant that stole the thunder from the nfc title match-up and still reverberating today. quarterback richard sherman saved the day for his seattle seahawks but unleashed a storm criticism on social media by verbally slamming san francisco receiver michael crabtree. now sherman showing some regret but also defending himself. rachel nicole sat down for an

exclusive interview with sherman. she joins me now from los angeles. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. what's so fascinating about richard sherman he's one of the most brash, most outspoken guys night and also one of the smartest players in the nfl. he graduated from stamford and worked on his masters while still playing football there. not surprising while what happened the other night on field was very emotional, when he sat down to talk to me he was extremely reasonable and thoughtful. take a listen. there was the moment on the field when you need play. there's the choke sign. there's the interview on the field post-game then the press conference interview. what do you regret about all that? what you do not regret about all of that? >> there isn't much about it i regret. mostly i regret, i guess, the storm afterwards. the, you know, the way it was covered, the way it was perceived and the attention it took away from the fantastic performance from my teammates,

you know. and that be the only part of it aregret the way it's covered. you know, it is what is it. what i said is what i said. you know, i don't say -- i probably shouldn't have attacked another person opinion i don't nene attack him and that was immature and i probably shouldn't have done that. i regret doing that. i just felt like my teammates deserved better and i have to apologize to them and i have. >> your brother has said that michael crabtree was rude to you at an event this past summer, a charity event, he shunned you, he wouldn't talk to you and you said at the time all right i'll show him on the field. is that the background of all of this? is that the clean version? >> we're going to keep it clean. >> all right. >> did it get nastier than that? >> we'll keep it clean. >> all right. >> i said i would keep it on the field. i will show you on the field. that's always been my think. everybody is like oh, man these guys pushing you in your face.

i'm not going to fight anybody and embarrass myself, embarrass my family or my organization. there's no need for that. no need to be that kind of barbaric human being. on the field we're playing a barbaric sport and you can do what you please. that's when i take my frustrations out, on the field with disciplined football, sound football. it takes -- it takes a different kind of person to be able to turn that switch on and off and be table to step in the ring or step on the field and be the intense, incredible focused and kind of, you know, i guess angry human being that you have to be to be successful in those atmospheres. >> how do you do it? >> you have to have that switch. you take it off. you treat it totally different and that's, that's why sometimes it crashes and doesn't go all so well because if you catch me in a moment on the field while i'm

still in that zone, when i'm still as competitive as i can be and i'm in the place where i have to be to do everything i can to be successful on the football field and help my team win then it's not going to come out as articulate, as smart, as charismatic because on the field i'm not all those things. i'm everything i need be to be a winner. >> we've seen this. we've seen dion sanders, terrell owens, michael jordan, mohamed ali, we've seen guys get excited in the moment, make big pronouncements. what happened to you was the reaction afterwards, the way it mushroomed and the way race so quickly became involved. >> it was really mind-boggling. it was kind of sad at the way the world reacted. you know i can't say the world, i don't want to generalize the world, because there were people that didn't react that way.

but people who threw you want slurs like that, it's sad especially that close to cunning king day. i'm not out there beating on people or committing crimes or getting arrested. i'm playing football game at a high level and i got excited. but what i did was within the lines of a football field. what they did was in actual reality, they showed their true character, those were real comments not in a moment, not in a -- they had time to think about it, they were sitting at a computer and they expressed themselves in a true way. i thought society had moved past that. >> reporter: guys, for everyone who was offended by richard sherman the other night i've heard plenty of people applauding him say this is what these kind of rivals make the game fun. his agent says he's drawn more

interest from advertisers since all this happened the other night. >> well, in listening to your interview whim it totally changed my opinion of him. when he did his epic rant on the field i thought oh, man, unsportsman-like can't we celebrate the win. now that it listen to him i get it. all the racist tweets also changed my mind because that makes me like him more. >> yeah. you know he said when he was a kid he got entranced by mohamed ali and you can see a little ali in him with his bravado. >> thank you. of course there's a lot more to richard sherman than what we saw on the field the other night. catch his full interview this friday on "unguarded" with rachel nichols, 10:30 p.m. on cnn.

some of the smallest cars on the road carry some of the biggest risks when it comes to keeping you safe in a crash. 11 small cars were crash tested by the insurance institute for highway safety and only one of them got a passing grade. christine romans is in new york to tell us more about this. good morning. >> reporter: carol, small cars are not as safe as bigger cars, that's what this test reveals.

the test is called a small overlap test. a vehicle hits a barrier at 40 miles per hour, just a quarter of its front bumper and the impact occurs on the left side just in front of the driver's seat. that's the test. six of the cars in the test earned the institute's lowest rating. they were rated poor. they are the nissan severe sa, toyota prius c, hyundai accent, the mitsubishi my rag, fiat 500 and honda fit. about a quarter of front crashes is caused by this small overlap impact. all the automakers except mitsubishi pointed out their cars have done well in other crash tests. they have not subjected the mitsubishi mirage to its other crash test. >> seems logical to me you would be safer in a larger car. but one smaller car did pass the test. which one was it?

>> the gm spark, the chevrolet spark from gm. this is the only one to earn this acceptable rating. the crash test dummy showed a low likely percent of injuries. it held up well to protect the feet and legs. according to the insurance institute. >> good information. christine romans, ma'am thanks to you. still to come in the "newsroom," warren buffett has a challenge for all you college basketball fans. deliver a perfect march madness bracket and win a billion dollars. we'll talk about that next. [ male announcer ] the new new york is open.

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i know a lot of you are into march madness. it got just a little better. one of the people who pours over stats before filling out a bracket online in an office pool if they do this and they get every single game correct, you could win a billion dollars. that's what billionaire warren buffett is offering, a billion dollars to anyone who fills out a perfect bracket for this year's tournament. what are your chances to be perfect? could be the longest odds in the universe. wait for it, 1-9,223 --

>> you're telling me there's a chance? yeah! ? >> if you think there's a chance you're . . . . peter teernen is with bracket signers.com. he has been using stats to analyze march madness for 22 years. good morning. >> good morning. how are you? >> what do you this i of warren buffett's offer? >> it is probably the shrewdest marketing play. when you think about 9.2 quintillian. you could plaster brackets 600 miles how. that's how much 9.2

quinntillion. we know that the 16th seed probably isn't going to win. the odds are better but they are still not very good. >> how close have you ever gotten to a perfect score? >> i think the best i ever did was eight wrong. eight wrong is actually good. you are going to win your fool if you get 65 out of 63 right. a few years back somebody had only four wrong. he meant to put george washington in but accidentally put george mason. that's the kind of crazy stuff you are going to have to do to win this thing? >> why is it so difficult to be perfect? >> you are talking about a giant probability matrix. even the highest probability games, like the 1-v 16 and the

2-v 15s. in the last two years, a 15 seed has knocked off a 2 seed three times. you think you have got some of these can't miss picks and you end up missing on them. >> there is also the factor that human beings are involved in the game. it is not as simple as picking numbers in the lottery. somebody told me, their fate is in the hands of 19-year-old men. that is not the most bankable commodity. >> are you going to ep nter the cop te contest? >> oh, absolutely. >> because there is maybe a little bit of you that thinks maybe i can. it is just like the lottery. maybe i am going to get bitten been a shark three times in my lifetime. >> you never know if you don't try. peter tieren, with brack

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. >> the family of a man missing in iran has a new demand. his family says, they knew he worked for the cia and the united states needs to admit it too. >> he was doing what he always did, working for the united states government and

investigating criminal activities. the united states government has not taken ownership of it yet. >> susan candiotti conducted that interview. tell us more, susan. >> hi, carol. to are years, the levinson followed government advice to keep the cia connection under wraps to help protest him. now that the news is out, the family wants the u.s. to use levint levinson as a bargaining chip. nothing else has worked to bring him home. >> this has been going on through two administrations and nothing has gotten him home and we don't know why. >> reporter: the wife of missing american, bob levinson, is speaking out for the first time, after it was publicly revealed, the retired fbi agent was doing under-cover work for the cia when he disappeared in iran almost seven years ago. the family is demanding the u.s. government do more to find him. >> if the proper steps had been taken in the first critical weeks after my dad went missing, i think he would have been home

by now. >> you feel he was abandoned. >> he was left there. he was the man left behind. >> levinson's family knew all along he worked for the cia but kept silent. >> reporter: why didn't you say what you knew at the very start? >> we were told by the u.s. government that by revealing what he was doing over there would have been harmful to his safety. >> reporter: to this day, the white house denies levinson was a government employee. >> he was doing what he always did, which is working for the united states government and investigating criminal activities. the united states government has not taken ownership of it yet. >> reporter: the family showed us these documents that approved to approve the role in here. his name is only partially right. according to a translation given the family by the fbi, it reads, a member of the u.s. federal

investigation or maybe cia, robert anderson, is here as an undercover tourist taking pictures and gathering information. since his spying activities have been established, arrest him immediately. >> knowledgeable people say the documents look real and that the people named in them are real and do hold those positions. >> the family is outraged the cia lied for eight months, denying levinson was working under cover, losing crucial time. the cia won't comment publicly but fired three people and paid the family a $2.5 million settlement. >> why do you cling to the hope that he is still there and is being held by them? >> i think that he is valuable. he wants to come home to us. i know he is just waiting for us to bring him home. >> no one seems to know exactly where levinson is or how he is. iran has consistently said they have no information on him. the family would like to go back to iran as they did in 2007, to push for his release.

obviously, carol, a delicate situation. >> you are not kidding. you can't help but think that maybe levintson and the two othr americans being held in iran could be used as a bargaining chip. there is this controversial nuclear deal is going on. >> certainly, that's what the family would like to see. the u.s. has said it is not going to p ha. the family would like to see some third parties get involved to help negotiate levinson's release. susan candiotti reporting live. thank you. the next hour of "cnn newsroom" starts now. good morning, i'm carol costello. thank you so much for joining me. we begin with new worries about the olympics. new e-mails threatening attacks within the events. they are raising more anxiety

about security during the games. they are trying to verify the authenticity about the e-mails. we are joined from volgograd, russia, by phil black to tell us more. good morning, phil. >> reporter: good morning, carol. it is the national committees of germany, italy, hungary and slovenia that have received these e-mails that broadly talk about a threat against sochi. they are concerned enough in some cases to pass it to their local security authorities. they have passed to the international olympic committee. the assessment is that these e-mails do not contain a threat as such. the ioc says it appears to be a random e-mail from a member of the pub lilic. we've seen a copy provided by the slow vavenian national committee. if it is a prank, it is interesting to note you have olympic officials in various

countries commenting on this. such is the concern. they have now detailed two potential threats against it's games. one is set to be targeting the olympic torch relay. the time frame for this attack is opened right now. an intensifying security crackdown as the threat of terrorism grows in the leader to the sochi olympic games. explosive new images amid russian state news reports. the police killed the suspected militant leader in this shootout in dagestan tuesday. in addition, reports that the leader of the terrorist cell has been killed in dagestan. this region, east of sochi, has become a hot bed for islamic insurgents after years of unrest. >> from their point of view, they don't have to succeed with

an operation. it is just enough to try. the russian security services, they have to have a zero point success rate to have a good outcome. >> reporter: president obama offered full assistance to vladimir putin. the joint chiefs have discussed the idea of providing russia with high-tech aid to help with ied detection and jamming equipment. still, there is concern. >> the ring of steel doesn't help you deal with a single individual or small teams of individuals already in place and already ready to move. >> reporter: possibly already on the move, three suspected women terrorists known as black widows. hotels in the area distributed fliers warning people to be on the look out. they believe one of the women may have been killed in a gun battle over the weekend. while now, 22-year-old, ruzana, is i believed to already be in sochi. >> they tend to be more ruthless

and focused and hit civilian targets rather than security services. that's a big change and poses a substantial risk at the olympics. >> reporter: a challenge met with growing force. as for that offer of assistance from president obama to president putin, we don't know what the response was from the russian leader when they spoke on the phone. here in russia, the success and safety of these games is seen as very much a reflection of the country's prestige and that of its president as well. so there is no reason to believe the russian government is going to lightly admit that it is not up to handling the safety of these games and ask for help. >> phil black reporting live from russia this morning. those terror threats are prompting one u.s. olympian to tell his family to stay home. 29-year-old skater, tucker fredericks, is probably competing in his final olympics. he wants his wife in paris to stay home in wisconsin and not travel to sochi to cheer him on.

dan fredericks tells the janesville wisconsin gazette, his country is worried about the security. security at this year's winter olympics is on everyone's minds. that includes the journalist assigned to cover the games and former new york city mayor, rudy giuliani says, hosting the world's games attracts all the world's problems to you. security needs to be number one. >> the minute you hold the olympics in a place, whether it is salt lake city orit city whe is rio. every one of these causes gets attracted to you and you have to have enormous security. >> it has been a concern of mine since the beginning. we have had a lot of conversations at nbc news and sports. after a certain point, it is a

bit of a leap of faith. i hope that they share information more than they have with the u.s. right now, that's kind of a rough point but i'm going. i'm going and you know they talk about that ring of steel and i hope it is there. >> that was meredith vieira. she will be hosting the opening ceremonies on february 6th. in ukraine, three protesters are dead after clashing with police overnight. two protesters were shot. it is unclear how a third was killed. the violence has escalated after weeks of mostly peaceful demonstrations in the country's capital city. demonstrators are upset with the president's recent trade agreement with russia. opposition leaders have accused the government of paying thugs to try and derail the protest through violence.

>> he is here. i'm here. >> that's really hard to watch. toronto mayor, rob ford, caught on tape begin, drinking and yelling incoherently. this latest incident was shot early tuesday morning and they addressed reporters about it later in a very sombre tone. >> reporter: mayor ford, when was that video from? >> last night. >> reporter: were you drinking? >> yes, i was. a little bit, yeah. >> reporter: do you think that video was extensive? >> i was with some friends and what i do in my personal life with my personal friends has nothing to do with you guys. >> ford says there were no drugs involved and he did not drive himself home. also, this morning, some 80 million americans waking up in the icy grip of a winter storm. high winds and heavy snow creating this swirling mess for

drivers on cape cod. this is the view from cnn affiliate, whdh. blizzard and as much as a foot of snow will blanket part of massachusetts. in philadelphia, single digit temperatures and double digit snowfall. as much as a foot has already fallen. with a high of 14 degrees, that snow ain't going anywhere. alison kosik is in landia, new york, on long island where they are suffering too. >> reporter: everybody is saying, look, it is winter. it is supposed to snow. the difference is, i think this storm that came through here specially on long island, it really was a doocy. it dumped anywhere from 6 to 12 inches throughout long island. the storm is gone. the sun is out. it is almost picture postcard perfect. it is still pretty icy out there.

it is freezing out here. it is 5 degrees. the real feel, it is 15 degrees below zero. it is cold here. the good news, it is a great snow day for the kids. a lot of the kids are off from school. this is the good kind of snow. not the wet, mucky kind. this is the soft, fluffy kind. there are still those that still have to get to work. new york city schools are still opened. we talked to some taking the train in. >> we have more snow here than in manhattan. i thought maybe they would clothclose the schools. they kept it open. i was anticipating the schools being closed. >> i am very surprised, also thought how am i going to get back into the city. the snow is pretty bad. i couldn't drive in, because the roads aren't dangerous and not great. but i'm here.

so got to get to class. >> this snow isn't going anywhere. it is really icy out here. i almost fell on my you know what, carol. >> you know it is 40 degrees in anchorage, alaska, today. 40 in anchorage. >> reporter: i'll take it. 5 degrees here, brrr. >> allison, be careful out there. indra peterson is in washington. what does a bombogenesis mean? >> we are talking about a low. we just had this alberta clipper. that's all it was a few days ago. typically, moisture as it is quickly moving from canada, it goes over land. this time, we saw that low make its way and start to really develop the ocean over the ocean. when you get that, that

pressure, like last night, right? if you get all that moisture coming off of the ocean and you get the heavy snow totals, very typical. normally, that storm moving west to east, you would see the higher to the west and farther east. not exactly the case this time where we talk about record breaking snowfall. almost a snow. >> i knew we were going to lose her. i hope you get the drift what bombogenesis which means something and something cold colliding. still to come, millions battered by brutal cold. running on a fuel to heat their homes. i'll talk about the head of one propane company about what it is doing to keep americans warm.

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cody cousins has been booked on a charge of murder. he and his victim were students in the electrical engineering department. the victim appears to have been targeted. he is being held without bond despite the snowstorms that ended the year, 2013 was a scorcher. last year is tied as the fourth warmest year on record with the average temperature on land and water at 58.12 degrees. that's a little more than 1 degree above the average. this marks the 37th year in a row that global temperatures have been above normal. alex rodriguez may have reached a point of new return with his fellow major leaguers, rather, in a story first reported by yahoo! sports during a conference call. some major league players called for a-rod to be expelled after he announced he was suing that group as well as the major league baseball. the union council told players,

there was no legal standing for the expulsion. if he does return after his suspension, he could face retribution, one unnamed player said, you can hit him and hit him hard. >> the midwest bracing as the bitter cold refuses to loosen its grip on the region. dipping down well below zero for some areas. making the situation truly dire. more than two dozen states say they are running out of fuel to keep everyone warm and declaring an energy emergency. joining me now is craig wood in sandusky, ohio. he is the president of the ohio propane gas association. welcome. >> good mornings. thanks for being here. the governor of ohio declared an energy emergency. what does that mean? >> well, what it is is that he recognized the fact that our industry has a lot of issues. with his help, he relieved our

hours of service restriction so we could more freely move throughout the state to get the supply where we need it for our customer base. >> the governor called in the national guard to help. what's the national guard doing? >> well, i'm not exactly sure but i'm sure they are there for support if we need them. >> i know he eased transportation rules too. what does that mean? that's probably what the national guard is doing to help transport the goods to where they need to go. >> by using it, we are all regulated by the federal government. with that, there is only a set number of hours a day that we can drive. with the relief on the restriction, we can spend more time on the highway, because of the issue of getting the product where we need to. our drivers now will not run out of hours. they can continue to drive safely. >> so 6% of ohio households use propane to heat their homes. does everyone have enough ho pain today to be able to do

that? >> i certainly would hope so. i can only speak for our customer base. every one of our customers today have adequate supplies to get them two weeks down the road. >> why is there a propane shortage any way? >> it is more of an infrastructure issue now. it started late last fall with a record harvest of grain in the corn belt. the product was extremely wet. we had to move a lot of propane to the western states to dry the crop so they could take it to market. with that being a late harvest, it walked right in to the front end of december, which is bone chilling. again, we have got the same thing in january. it didn't allow us time to rebuild our inventories in the midwest. that coupled with the -- go

ahead. >> finish your thought, sir. i'm sorry. >> that coupled with the ocean pipeline that connects the united states to canada which brought propane down, it went down for service in december, further complicating the supply ish s issue here in the midwest. >> if we have another cold spell like we are having right now, do people need to worry? >> i would -- we're all concerned, obviously. what all of us are doing as suppliers, we're very careful. we are monitoring and managing our inventories and limiting the deliveries we make to each of our customers. we are doing that with calculation to make sure that our customers have adequate supply to hold them over, as i say, for a minimum of 2-3 weeks. then, we'll return and deliver more product. >> all right. craig wood with the ohio propane gas association. thanks so much for being with me this morning.

>> thank you very much. >> still to come in the "newsroom," on the 41st anniversary of roe versus wade, hundreds of activists are preparing to rally at the nation's capital. cnn's tom foreman in washington. good morning, tom. >> hi, carol. very well. it will be thousands of them despite the bitter cold here. it is a much smaller meeting, a much, much smaller meeting that will happen in private that could make an actual difference in all of this coming up. (vo) you are a business pro. seeker of the sublime. you can separate runway ridiculousness... from fashion that flies off the shelves. and you...rent from national. because only national lets you choose any car in the aisle... and go. and only national is ranked highest in car rental customer satisfaction by j.d. power. (natalie) ooooh, i like your style. (vo) so do we, business pro. so do we. go national. go like a pro.

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forty one years ago today, the u.s. supreme court decided roe v. wade legalizing abortion. they are marking this with a march for life rally. anti-abortionist activist are braving the bitter cold to make their voices heard. good morning, tom. >> this event has changed a bit more recently. they have become much more modernized in terms of their outreach to people.

they have changed their focus a bit, not pounding so hard just on roe v. wade but there seems to be much more consideration about the idea of are there other areas of abortion law in which more americans might agree with this group even if they want to keep roe v. wade. that is a focus of a very interesting meeting happening today. it happened in the warmth of a hotel. amid the growing blizzard, 168 members of the republican national committee which consider a plan being pushed by conservatives to tackle the stormy issue of abortion head-on. the resolution on republican pro life strategy would have gop candidates aggressively confront democratic challengers to see where they stand, on proposal to require spouses be notified before an abortion is performed, to provide sharper health warnings to women about the procedures and to require a waiting period before an

abortion takes place. on all these and more, the author of the plan, ellen barose believes public opinion moves strongly to the right. >> 80% think abortion should be illegal in the third trimester and that parents should be involved. >> you think republicans have real muscle here? >> i know they have real muscle here. >> reporter: in a broader sense, it is aimed at blunting that republicans are aiming a war on women bolstered by missteps. >> if is a legitimate rape, the female body has a way to shut it down. >> in that horrible situation of rape, it is something that god intended to happen. >> reporter: women have tilted left in many recent elections. backers are convinced if democrats are forced to spell out exactly how far they want abortion rights to he go, the

republican position might start looking more likeable to women everywhere. >> bottom line, some republicans on the conservative side, particularly some women, know that this is not going their way. they really do believe that there are a lot of finer points of abortion law where they can paint the democrats as the extremists here out of touch with the american public and as you know, carol, there are plenty of democrats out there that think this is such a winning issue for them. they say, republicans, waunt to go down that road, bring it on. >> tom foreman, many thanks to you. the question now, as tom pointed out, will this new tactic work. republican efforts to chip away at roe v. wade are working. according to the institute, 22 states adopted 70 difrng restrictions, including late abortion bans, doctor and clinic regulations, limits on

medication abortions and bans on insurance coverage. we are here with jessica who helps support women's rights. >> if democratic women are to spell out how far they want abortion rights to go, will that change minds? >> i am surprised to see republicans considering a double down, getting louder on this issue. i would have thought they would have learned a lesson after 2012 when women and voters so thoroughly rejected this extreme agenda. we saw a historic gender gap in terms of women coming out and supporting democrats. in 2013, we saw ken cucccinelli lose the women vote by 42%. women are clear and loud on this issue. >> when things are brought up, i would think most mothers would want to know if their daughters are considering abortion and they would want the law to force their daughters to tell them or at least the doctors performing the abortions to let them know.

that doesn't sound extreme. >> sure, but mostly women voters don't want this issue to be the pry priority of our government. when you poll women whether they call themselves pro choice on prolife, they believe the priority of the elected officials ought to help them out with the economic reality of their day to days. they want folks in washington to be on jobs. the republican party has put it on social issues like abortion at their own expense. at emily's list, we saw our membersh membership quinn tuple during 2013. >> if you take a look at the latest cnnorc poll, it shows opinions are shifting. 25% said no, abortions should not be legal in all circumstances. that's down from a year ago. you have to ask yourself the question, is it time to rethink our abortion laws?

>> the majority of americans feel that most abortions ought to be legal but they also believe that this shouldn't be the single-minded focus of our government. the year is 2014. republicans are still relitigating battles that we thought frankly our mother's generations had fought. they are expanding it beyond abortion. they have birth control limiting legislation. they want your boss to be able to decide whether you are taking it for appropriate reasons to get it covered. this agenda taken as a whole really tells women that the republican party doesn't respect their choices, doesn't think they are capable of making them themselves. it is why we are seeing women flee the republican party in droves and vote for democratic candidates, many of whom are really strong women who are offering a very clear, compelling contrast to this extremist agenda. >> you bring up democratic candidates. i have to ask you about this. one of the prochoice for texas governor, wendy davis, is now under attack for clouding her

life story. critics say she exaggerated her past as a single mother who put herself through college. the conservative ericson said, so abortion barbree had a sugar daddy named ken, not the bio she claimed. >> they are having a hard time talking to women. >> the mere fact that wendy davis exaggerated her story, doesn't that hurt her candidacy. even some critics say it did. >> let's talk about the embellishment. she said she was divorced at 19. it turns out, she was separated at 19 and the divorce became official at 21. nothing changes the fact that she grew up under some real hardship. she raised her kids. she put herself through a community college, texas christian, with the help of scholarships. she married a man that helped her go and get her advanced degree from harvard law with loans they jointly repaid. this is a really compelling story. this is a personal narrative that a lot of women in texas and

men too, frankly, can identify with. that's why republicans are going on the attack. >> they say it was wrong of her to leave out the fact that her ex-husband helped pay for her college education. >> they were married when she was in texas christian college. it is not something she has left out. it is something they decided to seize on because she had the best week of her campaign last week. she surprised everybody but outraising her republican opponent, greg abbott and she put forward amazing press in every corner of the state. she is appealing to texas voters, because she is talking about their daily lives. if greg abbott wants to make this campaign about whether she lived in a trailer with her young daughter for long enough to tell that story, i don't think that will be real compelling. i don't think they want to know when she got divorced or who paid for the loan on the law degree. i think they want to hear politicians talk about what they can do to approve their daily

lives. that's what they are doing. >> thanks so much for joining me. still to come, seattle seahawks cornerback, richard sherman, regrets his rant but pushes back against his critics. rachel nickels sat down for an exclusive interview with sherman. >> richard sherman is not who a lot of people think he is. he has a lot to say on this subject and many others coming up after this break. so you can have a getaway from what you know. so you can be surprised by what you don't. get two times the points on travel and dining at restaurants from chase sapphire preferred. so you can taste something that wakes up your soul. chase sapphire preferred. so you can. of the dusty basement at 1406 35th street the old dining table at 25th and hoffman.

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good morning. i'm carol costello. thank you so much for joining me. nsa leaker, edward snowden, firing back at claims he may be a russian spy. listen to what house intelligence chairman, mike rogers, said earlier on "meet the press" about snowden. >> i believe there is a reason he ended up in the hands, the loving arms of an fsb agent in moscow. i don't think that is a coincidence. >> you think the russians helped snowden? >> i believe there are questions to be answered there. i don't think it was a gee whiz

luck event that he ended up in moscow under the handling of the fsb. >> snowden is fighting back against those allegations in an interview with ""the new yorker"" calling them absurd and clearly false and saying americans were too smart to believe it. phil black is live in volgograd, russia, with more. hi, phil. >> reporter: hi, carol. yes. edward snowden has commented on this before and denied any relationship with russian intelligence. he is saying it very strongly. clearly, he said he acted alone. if he was a russian spy, why would he have gone to hong kong first, why would he have spent six weeks waiting in moscow airport to receive asylum and permission to enter the country. he says russia was never intended to be his final destination. he would have gone on to cuba, if he could have, if the united states hadn't canceled his passport. he still talks about the possibility of moving on towards

latin america if he felt the united states would not interfere with his travel but he says he doesn't feel that way, carol. >> phil black, reporting live in russia this morning. it is the post-game rant that stole the thunder from the nfc title match. cornerback, richard sherman, saved the day for his seattle seahawks but unleashed a storm of criticism on social media but verbally slamming michael crabtree. now, sherman showing some regret but also defending himself. cnn's rachel nichols sat down with an exclusive interview. she joins us to tell us more. hi, rachel. >> on the field, richard sherman is one of the most brash, most outspoken guys in the nfl. he is also one of the smartest players in the nfl. he graduated from stanford and started working on his master's while he was playing football there. when there was a huge backlash against him the other night, it is no surprise he had a smart take. i asked him about how race

factored into all of this specially after he was hit with an avalanche of racist tweets and e-mails. calling him a monkey and much, much worse. take a listen. >> it was really mind-boggling and kind of sad the way the world reacted. i can't say the world. i don't want to generalize. there are a lot of great people that didn't react that way. for the people that did react that way and threw the racial slurs and things like that out there, it was really sad, specially that close to martin luther king day. i am not out there beating on people or committing crimes or getting arrested or doing anything. i'm playing a football game at high level. i got excited. what i did was within the lines of the football field. what they did was an actual reality. they showed their true character. those were not in a moment. they had time to think about it. they were sitting at a computer

and they expressed themselves in a true way. i thought society had moved past that. >> we have a black president. we like to think that as a country, things have changed. of course, to some degree, they have. what did you learn about the state of race in this country just from the few days after that game? >> i learned we haven't come as far as i thought we had come. if that's all it took to bring that out of people, then it might have already been on the surface. i didn't go out there and scream at anybody, anybody's family or attack anybody but michael crabtree, which was wrong. i understand that. these people were acting like i attacked them in some way, like i went after them. i did my job effectively. afterwards, they interviewed me and i had an interview. regardless of how that interview goes, it doesn't give you the right to say the things they were saying. that's the part that's sad.

>> do you have to be a little bit brash if you are a fifth-rounder, a defensive pick, to be in the position to get the endorsements and the attention for your charity work? >> i haven't seen it done any other way, truthfully. a lot of quiet. there have been a lot of quiet players, a lot of quiet players who have given total right answers who have done everything and who have played at incredibly high level that you couldn't name, that you've never seen on tv, that are having a hard time getting into the hall of fame, because they weren't that brash, because they weren't that forward. that doesn't say anything about their play. they were still great players. they were probably as good as anybody in the hall of fame, but they didn't do enough for enough people to know who they were, which is sad. it is roux el wieally sad they able to get the endorsements because they were who they were. that's how the world is. >> and this is who you are. >> this is who i am. >> well, carol, it is probably

no surprise that certainshermane he modeled himself after mohamm muhammad ali, another smoort guy that knew how to play to the ground. advertiser and endorsement interest has increased and he has more interest going in his charity. he did great work in compton bringing school supplies to underprivileged children there. >> you have to think when the super bowl rolls around, the camera will be on him a lot. it will be interesting to see how he rekt acts on camera. >> this is a fifth round pick, a defensive player. quarterbacks, you still a ball in their hand and people want to hand them endorsement money. he has been able to make a name for himself. he has shown that he is able to nd hale the pressure. we will see how it goes this week. there is nothing like the new york media. >> that's true, great interview.

thanks so much, rachel. of course, there is a lot more to richard sherman than what we saw on the field the other night. you can catch his full interview on this friday's unguarded with rachel nichols, 10:30 p.m. eastern. right here on cnn. this, richard sherman, is expected to speak the ai ateen news conference this afternoon. cnn will have it for you live. that starts around 3:40 eastern we think. a major republican player says it is time for chris christie to step aside from a high-powered position and focus on new jersey. we'll tell you who said that next. natural gas? nuclear? or renewables like solar... and wind? let's find out. this is where america's electricity comes from. a diversity of energy sources helps ensure the electricity we need is reliable. take the energy quiz. energy lives here.

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in the wake of all these scandals, a republican is calling for chris christie to focus on his own state. tell us more, peter. >> ken cucccinelli, the former attorney general of virginia, who ran for governor in virginia last year and lost very narrowly was on cnn's cross fire last night and became the first prominent republican voice to call on christie to step aside from the republican governor's association, that big fund-raising committee that helps elect republican governors and listen to what you said last

night on the show. >> i think from the perspective of setting aside this as an issue in other races, it makes sense for him to step aside in that role. he does not serve the goals of that organization by staying as chairman. every governor does better by setting everything else aside. if the goal is to be the best governor you can be, that's done better by setting everything else aside. when he said this last night, carol, twitter kind of exploded. democrats started pushing this saying, ah-hah, christie should step down. the reasons why it isn't a big deal outweigh the reasons it is a big deal. every republican governor that's made a comment about christie has expressed support for him. i sent a round of text messages and e-mails to a variety of republicans working for republican governors around the country saying is this

symptomatic of a larger feeling. are we going to see a cascade of governors on calling chris christie to resign. i heard not a single peep. i should note, that after ken cucccinelli lost his governor's race, he and his team were angry at the rga for not spending more money to help push them over the edge and instead spending $2 million in the new jersey race for christie. there is a little bit of axe grinding going on here, carol. >> isn't the governor's association, it's main task is to raise money for gubernatorial candidates across the country? >> yes. >> so as long as chris christie is able to raise money for republican candidates, i think he will be okay? >> yes, that's right. a lot of people should understand the rga is not involved in legislating running states. it is all about raising money and winning campaigns and make no mistake, if you look at the class of republican governors in this country, even with the

scandal surrounding chris christie, he is, by far, the most marquee fund-raiser in the republican party. as one chief of staff told me, anyone that would refuse chris christie at a fund-raiser in their state is an idiot. carol? >> put very bluntly. as chris christie would like. cnn's peter hamby, thanks so much. still to come in the "newsroom," turning the heat up on a big-time sports debate. will college athletes be paid to play? it could happen. christine romans is here to tell us why. >> these are amateur athletes, nonprofit organizations that have turned into professional sports, right? experts say this business model, not really sustainable for much longer. i'll have that after the break. . feet...splashing. better things than the joint pain and swelling of moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis. if you're trying to manage your ra, now may be the time to ask about xeljanz.

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at experian.com. america's number one provider of online credit reports and scores. don't take chances. go to experian.com. the ncaa is facing a momentum swing. the five most powerful con ferns could soon make their own rules. the concept of paying college athletes to play is one step closer to reality. tell us more. >> ticket sales, tv rights, merchandise, corporate sponsors, college sports, as you well know, it is a big business. it has been growing for decades. the largest revenue streams run through the ncaa. we will take a look at how much it is making and who is

benefiting. >> letters, hundreds of millions of dollars and a major influence on a massively popular sports industry. the business of the ncaa is thriving. is it sustainable? the nonprofit organization says it puts its money where its mission is, equipping student athletes to succeed on the playing field, in the classroom and throughout life. they rake in around $800 million each year. its endowment is more than half a billion. where does the money come from? >> the institution itself based in indianapolis makes money primarily through television rights to the march madness basketball tournament. they get somewhere in the neighborhood of $770 million a year. that constitutes around 70% of the revenue that goes to the ncaa. >> reporter: cbs and turner sports, part of the time warner family along with cnn, own those broadcast rights. ticket sales also make money for the ncaa and corporate sponsors

pay millions to get their names in the game, at&t, capital one and coca-cola are ncaa corporate championship. other big names are official corporate partners. most of that cash is headed back to campus. about $100 million supports programs for players. more than $500 million is distributed directly to schools or the conferences they belong to. the schools can spend the money however they choose. much of it pays the salaries and benefits of coaches and staff. the rest is split between expenses, facility costs of team travel. then, there is the scholarships. more than 150,000 student athletes get athletic scholarships every year, from colleges and universities. a value, the ncaa puts at $2.4 billion. it is a perk used to justify the money it makes off of players. some critics say the ncaa is at a crossroads. >> the organization is in a difficult position, because they

are supervisors of the system that is a hybrid system that is presumably halfway between commercialism and amateurism. >> many say it is time to pay athletes. >> they are talking about $2,500 up to $5,000 a year. it would be optional. you would give it to obviously only your star players. they would be able to go to college and not have to dip into their own pockets or look for boosters to help them pay for many of their living expenses. >> there is a huge class action lawsuit challenging the ncaa rules that prohibit athletes from being paid. a few thousand is far from the millions professional athletes make but it would mark a significant change in the ncaa's 100-year history. carol, the ncaa says its members don't support the professionalization of college sports. nathan hatch says he is opposed

to the idea of paying players and gives the wrong incentives and could have damaging effects on other sports, particularly women, with much of the revenue going to football and basketball. >> i was just looking up what some college coaches make. i think nick saban makes $7 billion a year. it just doesn't seem right somehow that you don't want to give a couple of thousand dollars to the players. >> it is such a big business. i think hybridization is a good way to look at it. somewhere between amateur and professional, that's why this discussion gets so much tracks, carol. so many people think that the ncaa is at a crossroads. for the record, the ncaa says that its members, a nonprofit organization representing its members, it's members don't want to do that. christine romans, many thanks coming up tomorrow, one of the most powerful figures in sports is an assistant high school basketball coach in nevada who also works as a car dealership. former basketball star, ed

obannon is suing the ncaa and could change the future of college athletics as we know it. >> i am not going to ruin college sports. college sports is changing. the rules need to change. >> we take an inside look at the man behind a landmark case at 10:00 eastern hour of "newsroom" tomorrow. you get sick, you can't breathe through your nose... suddenly you're a mouth breather. a mouth breather! how do you sleep like that? you dry up, your cold feels even worse. well, put on a breathe right strip and shut your mouth. cold medicines open your nose over time, but add a breathe right strip, and pow! it instantly opens your nose up to 38% more so you can breathe and do the one thing you want to do. sleep. add breathe right to your cold medicine. shut your mouth and sleep right. breathe right. afghanistan, in 2009. orbiting the moon in 1971. [ male announcer ] once it's earned, usaa auto insurance

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seems like we have quite a few stories with bad sportsmanship. you can now add speed skating. a dutch skater was so unhappy about losing a relay race, he let his fingers do the talking. here is jeanne moos. >> reporter: how not to loose a race, meet the finger skater. he is a dutch skater whose team lost a championship replay race to the russians. it's the russian in blue making the we're number one. while dutch skater makes a double barreled single finger salute. >> that's something i would do. >> reporter: you would? >> no. >> reporter: as if that weren't enough, first up-raised middle fingers and then a pretend kick. >> very unsportsmanlike. i'm a sportsman. i wouldn't do that.

i would have shook the man's hand and say, congratulations, i hope you do very well if i loss the. >> reporter: here we thought the dutch tradition was for a little boy to stick his finger in the dike to stop the leak not raise two fingers at a competitor. is he sorry? >> translator: of course, i regret it. it p has out of emotion and not actually conviction. it just sucks. >> reporter: skating officials disqualified him for his behavior. that won't prevent him from facing his russian rival next at the olympics in sochi. they played old video of the skater saying he has a history of losing his temper. ka net had at least one new york defender. >> it is the spirit of competition. i can understand the guy. >> reporter: this guy has thrown fingers of his own. >> i acab tried to kick me off.

>> that is dutch for richard sherman. >> don't you ever talk about me. >> reporter: so are winners and losers. when is the last time i flipped one off for what? >> it may be you if you keep me here in the snow. >> reporter: jeanne moos, cnn, new york. >> thank you so much for joining me today. i'm carol costello. legal view with ashleigh banfield starts now. welcome to the great white north. i do not mean canada. this is new york city. it looks just like this across huge sections of the country right now. well over a foot of snow in places, keeping planes on the ground and kids out of school and just about everybody shivering. this hour, the supreme court takes on child pornography. does a young girl deserve money from each and every e